NWSL JUNE PLAYER OF THE MONTH: SAM KERR

Samantha Kerr Receives Back-To-Back Player of the Month Awards

Samantha Kerr of Sky Blue FC has been named NWSL Player of the Month as she becomes the second player to receive the honor in consecutive months. The NWSL Player of the Month is selected each week of the regular season by the NWSL Media Association, a collection of writers that cover the league on a consistent basis.

Kerr, 23, becomes the second player in league history to be voted the NWSL Player of the Month in consecutive months as she joins former Seattle Reign midfielder Kim Little as the only player to achieve the accomplishment.

The Australia international recorded three goals and an assist in the month and became the third player in NWSL history to reach the 30-goal milestone. She now stands with five goals on the year and 31 goals in her career – just two behind North Carolina Courage forward Jessica McDonald for No. 1 on the all-time NWSL scoring list.

The Freemantle, Australia, native scored the 29th and 30th goals of her league career to lead the Sky Blue FC to a 3-1 road victory over the Portland Thorns on June 17th. The first tally came in the 70th minute when she beat the offside trap and ran onto a header from Maya Hayes. Kerr broke through on goal before she sidestepped goalkeeper Adrianna Franch and slotted the ball home.

Kerr registered her second goal of the night against the Thorns in the 88th minute when she found herself one-on-one with Franch for a second time. She sprinted into the path of a through ball from Madison Tiernan and once again slipped by the Portland goalkeeper and buried the ball in the back of the net.

In addition to her goals, Kerr was involved in NWSL history that day as she assisted on the goal by Raquel Rodriguez 24 seconds into the match against the Thorns – the fastest ever goal in league history.

Kerr is the only player in NWSL history to score at least 15 goals for two different clubs – having already scored 15 times for the Western New York Flash before she arrived at Sky Blue FC in 2015. On June 28th, she eclipsed the total with her 16th career goal for Sky Blue FC with her tally in the 46th minute during a 3-2 home loss to the Orlando Pride.

Photo Credit: ISI Photos

It is the third time Kerr has been honored as the NWSL Player of the Month and the fifth time a Sky Blue FC player received the accolade – following in the footsteps of Brittany Cameron (May 2013), Monica Ocampo (August 2013) and Nadia Nadim (August 2014) and herself (May 2017).

Sky Blue FC will return to action in the NWSL Game of the Week on Lifetime on Saturday, July 1, at 3:30 p.m. ET against the North Carolina Courage at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.

Header Photo Credit: ISI Photos

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Chris Rael is a reporter for GoalNation and covers youth and adult soccer.
A multimedia artist whose hobbies include camping, traveling and playing football as much as possible. Chris is based in Rotterdam, Netherlands.